realm-maintenance
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Realm maintenance for January 26th
I think at this point it is absolutely safe to say that Blizzard has taken on a stance of giving us more notice about maintenance periods, and everyone here at WoW.com is very appreciative of it. Blizzard representative Draocel hit the forums Sunday evening to let us know that tomorrow's maintenance period will begin at 5:00AM PST and last until 11:00AM PST. As usual, we will be here throughout the maintenance period doing our whole "write blog posts until our fingers bleed" deal. The Tuesday Morning Post will be waiting for you as well, rounding up our best posts of the last week should you need to play catch-up.
Rolling restarts for January 23rd, 2010
It looks like we have some quick play disruption coming our way this Saturday morning, as Blizzard has announced rolling restarts for all realms at 5 AM pacific, or Noon pacific for Oceanic Realms. Judging by Ghostcrawler's words in a recent thread, this is likely meant to jump start the resilience hotfix. Either way, if you're one of those folks weird enough to get up early on a Saturday morning, you may as well grab another hour or sleep or so, since you may not be able to jump on WoW for a 15 minute window. There's still no word on Tuesday's downtime, so maybe we were spoiled by the past couple of weeks. Then again, maybe they're just seeing if they can get that minor patch ready for a release this week too. Either way, keep it here, and we'll keep you informed.
Tuesday Morning Post: Vampire morning edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. As of this writing, the big news of the week is probably the latest Twitter developer chat. If you missed it, we have the transcript. Topics included the fate of Crystalsong Forest, pet scaling buffs, new warlock pets, personal guild banks and other storage issues, and more. Be sure to check it out, it's good reading whether you're focused on Patch 3.3 or on Cataclysm. Coming up, we have the opening of the Crimson Halls, the next wing of Icecrown Citadel. That means lots of vampires. They're blood elf vampires, sure, but blood elves are awesome, so it's all good. And hey, if you dislike blood elves, at least take comfort in the fact that these vampires don't sparkle. Finally, it looks like advance notice for downtime may be the name of the game after all, as we've know about today's downtime for a few days now. It's 3 AM to 11 AM pacific time, if you haven't heard, which means you should have plenty of time to catch up on WoW news. Check out a list of some of our content from the last 7 days below the cut.
Scheduled maintenance for this Tuesday
There will be realm maintenance for all US realms this Tuesday, January 19th, from 3:00 a.m. PST / 6:00 a.m. EST until 11:00 a.m. PST / 2:00 p.m. EST. We have been hearing for awhile now about a mini patch that's going to bring some small yet noticeable changes to the game, and there's no indication this downtime will bring that mini patch -- although we don't know officially one way or another. There have been a few stability issues reported this past week, so we're sure that many folks will be looking forward to having the maintenance hopefully fix these things up. We'll let you know if we hear the maintenance is going to be extended -- but other than that, enjoy the downtime. I hear the Star Trek Online beta is a good way to pass the downtime.
Tuesday Morning Post: Anticipation edition
Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. Today, we have another bout of long expected downtime, with the 5 to 11 AM downtime having been announced way back on Saturday. I'm betting it's to get those Cataclysm alpha servers set up, but we'll see. In fact, in addition to rumblings of new Cataclysm news, these past few days have all been about news of the distant future. Some news about the cancellation of Spiderman 4 might just herald things for the Warcraft movie, for example. In more immediate news, the Plaguewerks have opened up, and people have had a chance to face the new bosses. If you haven't delved in yet, or even if you have, you may find some helpful hints for taking them down right here. Regardless, you have around 6 hours to browse WoW news while you wait for the servers to come back up, so I have the usual list of good stuff to read after the break.
Maintenance announced for Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
When Monday night rolls around, I have a ritual that I follow without fail: I check the official server status forums and the launch tool waiting for any word on the maintenance window for Tuesday mornings over and over again. Most weeks, I'm lucky to get it by 10 PM pacific, if not midnight. Every once in a while there's an early announcement, but that's very, very rare. So it was some surprise to me to see a Saturday afternoon announcement from blue poster Enthati. We'll be having some downtime this Tuesday from 5 AM pacific to approximately 11 AM pacific. This is honestly probably the earliest I can recall ever seeing a downtime announcement go up. This, in turn, makes me wonder if something's up. 5-11 is a pretty short window, not enough to expect a patch, I'd think. Of course, I'm all for earlier advanced notice of downtime, so you won't hear me complain if this early announcement is just a new policy. If nothing else, I'll be able to go to bed earlier on Monday nights. And on Tuesday morning, you can head over here for all the latest news on the server downtime and all the other happenings around the world of WoW.
Tuesday Morning Post: Lift up the gates edition
So here we are. It's been a while since Patch 3.3 started, and we've had a suspiciously early downtime announcement to boot. The holidays are winding down, and most of us, including, one would assume, the Blizzard devs, have finished our eggnog and put our noses back to the grindstone. As of this writing, there's no official word either way, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic about waking up to news of a new section of ICC being opened, or at least a nice mini-patch full of some bug fixes -- say, to certain borked class cooldowns. We can't say for sure, though. All we can say for sure is that the realms are down, and will be for a while, until at least 11 AM pacific time. With that in mind, it's a good time to catch up on the news. As usual, we have a roundup of some of the best articles from the past 7 days or so. We're shaking off the holiday drowsiness and getting into full gear to help you get through the next phase of ICC, find out when we'll see more Cataclysm news, and more. Join us in the server downtime vigil and read on.
Realm maintenance for January 5th [Updated]
This morning we were given a pleasantly early notice regarding tomorrow's maintenance downtime for North American and Oceanic realms. Realms will be going down at 3:00 AM PST, and are expected to be down until 11:00 AM PST at the earliest. Though we haven't seen official word on the topic yet, it's expected that the next wing of Icecrown Citadel, the Plagueworks, will open tomorrow once realms come back online. This wing will include the bosses Rotface, Festergut, and Professor Putricide. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if we also saw a minor bug fix patch tomorrow, but only time will tell. If we hear anymore regarding either of those things throughout the day, we'll be sure to keep you updated. Edit: I know how to use a calendar. Really. I do.
Tuesday Morning Post: Same Old Auld Lang Syne edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. Winter Veil is winding down, and as we here at the WoW.com offices fight over the last carton of eggnog, we've been taking a lot of time to look over the past year and celebrate. Of course, here in the Tuesday Morning Post, we generally look at the past 7 days or so. So yeah, there's plenty of the navel gazing stuff, but there's a good smattering of news too. Nothing too major, I suppose. Even the dev team likes to see their family over the holidays, I guess. But it's there. And in the meantime, a little bit of a navel gazing never hurt anyone. Our navels are pretty awesome anyway. Join me for the last Tuesday morning of 2009 and catch up on your WoW reading. The usual list is after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Twas the night before Winter Veil
Happy Tuesday Morning to all good little boys and girls. Ok, and the naughty ones too. Patch 3.3 seems to be coming along relatively smoothly, but with weeks before we see the next section of the Icecrown Citadel open up, we're sort of coasting along. Not that that's a bad place to be, what with the whole holidays thing. Speaking of which, Winter Veil is in full swing, and if you can catch a few moments to log on WoW on the 25th, be sure to pick up your gifts in game. Of course, even if the game itself is settling in to a patch 3.3 routine, we're still hopping in the WoW.com news room. We've got advice on the new raid bosses, advice on the new dungeon finder, and more. And of course, the new year's just around the corner, so we've started looking back at the year both on the site and in the game. As usual, I have a list of some of the best stories from the past 7 days after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Best Patch Ever Edition
No, I'm serious. They finally got the LFG tool right, and they got it right in the most epic manner possible. It's easy to use. It gets you groups anywhere from instantly to 15 minutes most of the day, depending on your role. Almost everyone loves it. Even if nothing else was included in this patch, I honestly think it would be worth it. So far, Patch 3.3 is shaping up to make up for the somewhat lackluster performance of Patch 3.2 in spades. I'll be eager to see how the lore and endgame progress as the ICC unlocks (Under a month left until the next wing!). Of course, it's not like the dungeon finder is the only amazing thing about the patch either. There's also the bear rockets. And I guess those new dungeons and raids are alright too. In addition, Winter Veil is here. If you still need the Merrymaker title, we have a Winter Veil guide for your approval. Above that though, I think the main attraction for most of us is running our behinds off through the random dungeons, which is all well and good, but really, don't you need a break? How about taking some time off to catch up on the latest WoW news? You'll need to anyway, since the servers will be down from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific. As usual, we have a good list of it for you after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Patch 3.3 downtime edition
Poor Matt. He was just one week off from keeping his Val'anyr. But seriously, it's finally here. Patch 3.3 is the culmination of the Wrath of the Lich King experience. Informed by everything they've learned so far, in class balance, in mechanics, in lore, this is the crown of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. This is the epic climax of one of the main stories of the universe (Still, one would do well to remember that it is not the main story, and there is plenty more lore to be had. There were two games before the Lich King even came on the scene, after all). And of course, beyond it all lies the promise of the Cataclysm, and I can hardly wait. But before I go into fanboy mode, we'd best move on. There is, of course, a huge downtime coming up in order to facilitate the patch installation, and because of that, you probably have some time to catch up on your reading. I'd definitely recommend you look through our recently and constantly updated Guide to Patch 3.3, which provides a pretty handy roadmap to what's coming. Beyond that, we have our usual roundup of news from the past few days below the cut. Happy reading and Happy Patch 3.3!
Tuesday Morning Post: Stuffed edition
So, Zarhym has more or less confirmed that we aren't getting Patch 3.3 today (unless he's lying, in which case I'm going to look like a fool when you read this), which means the biggest story of the week is probably that whole thing with the Pilgrims and stuff. Of course, it's over now, and if you're like me, you had to comfort yourself with a plain old real turkey and stuffing and spending time with family instead of a new title, which I think is a pretty fair trade. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not a little bit bummed that I broke my personal holiday completion streak, but hey, at least I still have my drake, right? Anyway, Thanksgiving aside, there's still plenty of other news to be had from around the WoW-o-sphere. As of this writing, there's still no word on a downtime, but chances are it's coming, and even if not, hey, Tuesday's as good a time as any to catch up on the latest news, right? If anything, you're probably still taking it slow at work while you finish recovering from all that turkey. Here's our usual roundup of the past 7 days or so:
Maintenance for several realms tomorrow morning
Blizzard poster Rishgur has announced emergency maintenance for select realms, starting at 3:00 a.m. PDT / 6:00 a.m. EST Friday morning and lasting approximately four hours until 7:00 a.m. PST / 10:00 a.m. EST. There is no indication as to what this maintenance corrects, and there hasn't been any widespread reports of realm or connectivity issues (at least that we've heard). So who knows why the realms are getting fixed tomorrow morning, but they are. The realms will remain active and playable during this maintenance, but some stability issues may occur! The maintenance appears to involve multiple battlegroups. The specific realms include the ones listed below and after the break.
Updatedx3: Urgent maintenance complete
Blizzard has announced that they are conducting urgent maintenance on several realms. Though the official Warcraft twitter account announced it would only go on until noon PST (the tweet was about account maintenance), the in-game and forum messages state that they do not know how long the maintenance will take. They expect to have more information by 12:30 p.m. PST / 3:30 p.m. EST. The list of affected realms is after the break (which includes Zangarmarsh, the It came from the Blog server). We will keep you informed as the status changes. 3:25 p.m. PST: All realms are (supposedly) online and playable. Update 3 p.m. PST: More info at 3:30 PST. Update: More info at 1:30 p.m. PST.
Tuesday Morning Post: Identity Crisis Edition
So race changes are finally live, and with that, you can change your characters in just about every way possible short of class. Different faction? Go for it. Different gender? Change your face? Change your name? It's all good. Heck, you can do it every three days now. It's suddenly like we're all these crazy mutable nameless faceless blobs changing at will and at random, until we're practically a sea of shapeless shapeshifters. Or not. After all, there's still the whole money charge and stuff. Of course, that's not the only big news this week. Chill of the Throne, Icecrown's version of Sunwell Radiance, has been evoking a lot of discussion and a lot of unrest. Did Blizzard make the right choice in adding this much maligned dungeon-specific nerf back into the game? There's plenty of other issues as well, and as we have a nice 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific downtime, you'll have plenty of time to catch up with it all. You can start with some of the links below:
Server maintenance for September 29th
While we were given ample notice regarding last week's server maintenance, this week we weren't so lucky. We were only informed earlier today of tomorrow's maintenance, which will start at 5:00 am PDT and last until 11:00 am PDT. If you're not sure what time that is in your particular time zone, that's what the World Clock is for, you ninnies.As usual, WoW.com will be here all morning and afternoon to keep you busy while you slack off at work during your WoW-less lunch break. Or, if Valve is a benevolent sort and lets us get our grubby, pallid hands on it early, you could just play Left 4 Dead's new map while the servers are down. That's what I'll be doing the whole time.
Realm maintenance for August 25th, 2009
Wow, so tomorrow (or today) is Tuesday, isn't it? Personally, I've completely lost any sense of time I once had since BlizzCon kicked off Thursday night with the WoW.com meetup, but my server suddenly going down for maintenance brought me back to reality.Most realms are having regular scheduled maintenance starting at 3:00am PDT, and they'll be coming back online around 11:00am PDT. However, there is a huge chunk of servers that have already gone down as of 12:01am PDT and will be down until 11:59am PDT. My assumption is that the extended downtime will be equipping these servers with the new instance hardware we've been hearing about. You know, the stuff that will soon allow Cross-realm LFG? Yeah, that.Click through the break below for the full list of realms that will be down for extended maintenance, but chances are if you play on those realms, you already know about it.
Extended server maintenance for Tuesday August 4th
There's a detailed server maintenance announcement for tomorrow, Tuesday August 4th. And off the bat: we still don't know for sure if Patch 3.2 is dropping tomorrow. You can bet that we'll be burning the midnight oil waiting to find out, though. (Note, that would be inadvisable. If you attempt to ignite a petroleum product on this ship at zero hundred hours you will activate the fire suppression system, which would seal off this entire compartment.)All realms will be down from at least 3:00 a.m. PDT / 6:00 a.m. EDT until 11:00 a.m. PDT / 2:00 p.m. EDT tomorrow. However a large group of special realms will be down from 12:00 a.m. PDT / 3:00 a.m. EDT until 12:00 p.m. PDT / 3:00 p.m. EDT.Those special realms are those in the battlegroups Emberstorm, and Whirlwind.Check after the break if you need to see a listing of which realms belong on those battlegroups, and stay tuned to WoW.com tonight and tomorrow for all the patch 3.2 goodness.Minor update: The service alert, which is obviously suffering from a typo, now reads in part: "..we expect all realms to be playable by approximately 11:59PM PDT on Tuesday, August 4." Emphasis added. Hey, at least they're honest, right?Update: Blizzard changed their announcement to indicate that only Emberstorm and Whirlwind would be going offline for an extended period.
European weekly maintenance: 29th July 2009
It's the middle of the week again and once more unto the breach, my friends. Yes, tomorrow is maintenance Wednesday for European players. Fortunately, we told you this morning how EU Blue Wryxian had spilled the beans on the reason for all the recent rolling restarts and weeks of extended maintenance for a few select realms. I always find it's easier to exercise more patience once someone proffers a reason.So, this week it's time for some rolling restarts. These will take place on all realms between 5:00am and 7:00am CEST, with the usual fifteen minute warning. The following realms (the same will be undergoing an extended maintenance from 3:00am until 11:00 am CEST.
